In a typical checking transaction, a maker or drawer writes a check to a drawee. The check is drawn on the maker's account at a drawer financial institution. To cash the check, the drawee presents the indorsed, physical check to the drawee's financial institution, usually in return for cash or a deposit to the drawee's account. The drawee's financial institution then presents the indorsed, physical check to the drawer financial institution for payment. Traditionally, this presentment involved transporting the physical check, often cross-country, to the drawer financial institution. Because of the bulkiness and inefficiency of physical presentment, many financial institutions now allow electronic presentment. Instead of providing a physical, indorsed check, drawee's and drawee financial institutions may now provide electronic image cash letters representing the physical check.
The adoption of electronic image cash letters by many financial institutions has streamlined the presentment process and created new service opportunities for customers and financial institutions alike. For example, financial institutions may provide some drawee customers with scanners and other equipment for generating electronic image cash letters. These customers may scan and deposit their checks electronically without the need to physically visit a branch of the financial institution. Also, drawee customers may utilize a lockbox service. The lockbox service may receive, aggregate and deposit checks made out to the drawee, again without physically visiting the financial institution. Further, cash flow service providers, such as, for example, BRINKS, may utilize electronic image cash letters to make various deposits and other similar transactions on behalf of their customers. According to current practice, however, files including electronic image cash letters are assembled to include only transactions relating to accounts handled by a single image exchange system (e.g., a single financial institution). Accordingly, if a party desires to make transactions on accounts held at multiple financial institutions, then multiple image cash letter files must be generated.